Chapter 96 - 33: "Cultured Person

Chapter 96: Chapter 33: "Cultured Person

Su Yuxian’s knuckles dug into her palm unconsciously.

Alarm bells rang in her head.

She knew all too well what Lu Yizhou’s pensive gaze meant. It was the look of a hunter assessing the value of its prey.

He was hesitating.

About the marriage.

"Baozhen was scared by Lin Zhao’s family dog," she said, deliberately glossing over the real issue.

"Lin Zhao?" Lu Yizhou pictured the beautiful face he had once glimpsed on the road.

He subconsciously compared Su Yuxian to Lin Zhao and, to his disappointment, found that Su Yuxian couldn’t measure up to Lin Zhao in either looks or family background.

A strange feeling welled up inside Lu Yizhou, and suddenly, even the sight of Su Yuxian’s coarse-cloth clothes became grating.

And she was over twenty years old.

In an instant, what little desire Lu Yizhou had to remarry all but vanished.

Su Yuxian had no idea that the prize catch she had worked so hard to land no longer wanted to get married, at least for now.

Ten minutes later, Lu Baozhen ran back to the Lu Family home.

"The wedding... let’s postpone it," Lu Yizhou said.

For a moment, Su Yuxian’s face twisted in an ugly expression, but she managed to lower her head just in time for Lu Yizhou not to see.

"Why?" Her voice trembled. She had to fight to keep from screaming.

’What does Lu Yizhou take me for?’

’A nanny for some landlord from the old days?!’

’He has to marry me!!’

Lu Yizhou’s gaze was impassive, an expression that looked particularly strange on his handsome and proper face. "I only have a few days of leave. There’s not enough time to get married. I’m afraid it would be unfair to you."

Su Yuxian smiled. She took a few steps forward to stand before him, tilting her head up to meet his gaze. Her voice became soft and gentle. "It’s no problem. We can just hold the wedding banquet first."

"My mother says I’m getting old and can’t afford any more delays." She paused, lowering her head shyly before continuing, "Besides, the whole production brigade knows our wedding is just around the corner. I even told Lin Zhao. If we don’t go through with it and word gets back to your unit, I’m worried... there could be nasty rumors."

Lu Yizhou wavered.

A sharp glint flashed in Su Yuxian’s eyes.

She knew Lu Yizhou. He cared more about his reputation than anyone, and he especially loved to secretly compete with Gu Chenghuai. If she brought up that family, he would compromise.

"The wedding banquet will only take a day," she said, reaching out to hook a finger around his. Her eyelashes fluttered—a mixture of nerves and shyness—but she forced herself to say, "I want to build a family with you. I want to be able to openly and properly care for Baozhen and your parents. I can handle anything. If we get married, I’ll take care of all the chores at home. You’ll only need to focus on your career and climbing the ranks. In my heart, you’re much more capable than Gu Chenghuai. Without being dragged down by family matters, you’ll definitely surpass him."

That last sentence struck a chord with Lu Yizhou.

That was exactly what he thought.

Although he was moved, Lu Yizhou didn’t give in. He knew Su Yuxian was more desperate than he was, and he refused to be manipulated by the Su Family.

「At the Gu Family’s third house.」

Lin Zhao returned to her room, humming a song. Da Zai waved his brother, Er Zai, over.

Er Zai, who had been grabbing Dahuang’s tail, saw his brother’s gesture. He stood up, dusted off his hands, and scampered over with a PITTER-PATTER of footsteps.

"What’s wrong, Brother?"

Da Zai, his chubby cheeks set in a serious expression, said, "You’re not allowed to play with Lu Baozhen anymore!"

"Why not?" Er Zai asked.

Da Zai’s brow furrowed. "Just don’t play with her, okay? Or I won’t talk to you anymore."

"I wasn’t going to play with her!!" Er Zai said frantically. "I don’t like playing with girls anyway. They’re always crying! They cry when they lose a game, they cry when they fall down, they cry when they don’t get candy, and they cry when you scold them. They’re so much trouble! I only play with Brother Bangbang and the guys!"

"You’d better remember that," Da Zai said, reminding his little brother again just in case he forgot.

"Uh-huh, uh-huh!" Er Zai nodded his head vigorously.

"I won’t play with her."

But after agreeing, he couldn’t contain his curiosity and asked again, "Brother, why don’t you want me to play with her? You never cared before."

Da Zai didn’t tell him the real reason—that he sensed their mother didn’t want them getting close to Lu Baozhen. Instead, he just said, "She called you names, her mom called us names, and her mom said bad things about our mom! Mom and that Little Su aren’t friends, so we shouldn’t be friends with her kid! If you play with her, you’re betraying Mom and betraying me!"

Er Zai was usually a carefree kid, but hearing his brother put it so seriously made his eyes go wide. He waved his hands so fast they blurred. "I won’t play with her! I’ll run away the second I see her from now on!"

His own brother had just traumatized the poor kid.

Da Zai rubbed his chin. "That could work. It’ll keep her from pestering you."

"Why would she pester me?" Er Zai looked horrified.

Da Zai thought for a moment, then said with great seriousness, "She wants to trick you out of the snacks and drinks Mom makes for us."

"She can just forget it!" Er Zai said fiercely.

Tie Chui came looking for Da Zai and Er Zai to play and overheard this as soon as he arrived. "Er Zai, what are you talking about?"

Er Zai, who could never keep a secret, immediately told Tie Chui all about Lu Baozhen’s "plan."